The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project is calling on states to take action against what it perceives as partisan bias in President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which directs federal agencies to increase voter registration and turnout. The watchdog group has identified three key steps states can take to counter the alleged bias.
First, states can challenge the application of the order to presidential elections, arguing that the Constitution gives states the authority to govern these elections. Second, states can raise concerns about the partisan political activity of federal employees involved in implementing the order. Finally, states can scrutinize the designations of federal agencies as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act.
The Oversight Project has released two memorandums detailing the partisan-based evidence surrounding the executive order along with documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. These documents reveal the involvement of left-leaning organizations in the planning and implementation of the order, as well as the use of taxpayer funds for potentially partisan get-out-the-vote efforts.
Mike Howell, executive director of the Oversight Project, believes the order could have a significant impact on the November elections, potentially bringing in millions of new voter registrations. The group has exposed various agencies’ strategic plans, which include measures such as granting paid administrative leave to federal employees to vote or serve as poll watchers.
According to the Oversight Project, the leftist think tank Demos boasted that the scheme could bring in 3 million new voter registrations per year, though Howell suspects the number could be even higher.
The Oversight Project’s findings have raised concerns about the nonpartisan nature of the voter registration efforts under the executive order and the potential for these efforts to favor one political party over another.
